Concentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder, system, and method of use

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an electric double layer capacitor electrochemical cylinder ( 11 ) made up of concentric layers of capacitors ( 16 ), current collectors ( 14   a,    14   b,    14   c ), ion specific membranes ( 18, 18   a,    18   b ) and dielectric spacer ( 20 ) wrapped around an inner support tube ( 12 ) that can be used as a high capacitance capacitor and to remove dissolved solids from a liquid stream such as water, acid, aqueous or non-aqueous.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/276,019 filed 2009 Sep. 8 by the present inventor.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates to an electric double layer capacitor constructedof a plurality of concentric rings of capacitor pairs for use as anelectrochemical device for energy storage or deionization of liquids

2. Prior Art

The following tabulation of some prior art that presently appearsrelevant:

US Patents

U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,115 to Andelman, 1993 Mar. 23U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,768 to Andelman, 1995 May 16U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,597 to Andelman, 1997 Apr. 15U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,437 to Andelman, 1998 May 5U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,891 to Andelman, 1998 Jul. 14U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,858 to Andelman, 1995 Jun. 20U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,611 to Andelman, 1996 Jun. 23U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,937 to Farmer, 1999 Sep. 21U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,532 B1 to Tran et al., 2001 Oct. 30U.S. Pat. No. 6,33b6,187 B1 to Tran et al., 2002 Feb. 12U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,409 B1 to Andelman, 2002 Jul. 2U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,505 B1 to Andelman, 2003 Sep. 30U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,809 A1 to Tran et al., 2002 Jul. 4U.S. Pat. No. 7,368,191 B2 to Andelman et al., 2003 Sep. 30

Publications International Forum on Marine Pollution, Dec. 1-3, 2003

Deionizing liquid streams, and in particular aqueous streams, has verysignificant importance in the world today. An increasing portion of thefresh water supply for the world is coming from desalination plants thatare current operated with reverse osmosis systems. These systems requirea tremendous amount of energy, high maintenance due to the extremeoperating pressures, and chemicals to remove fouling from the reverseosmosis cylinders. Other large opportunities for deionizing water areindustrial softening for water towers, processing of water by-productsfrom the oil and gas industry, and residential water softening. Theseopportunities are current being addressed through ion exchange withresins or sodium chloride and standard waste water treatmentprecipitation.

Capacitive deionization devices have been developed over the last 20years as a possible replacement for the existing methods. Capacitivedeionization in general has the ability to remove ions with lower energyand minimal fouling. Unfortunately, the devices produced and patentedsuffer from a number of limitations listed below.

Capacitive deionization works as follows. An aqueous stream containingundesirable ions is fed into a device containing one or more pairs ofelectric double layer capacitors. A power supply is attached to thepairs and the capacitors are charged. Since there is a dielectricmaterial or layer in between the layers, they hold their charge justlike a standard capacitor.

When charged “positively”, the cations and anions are removed fromsolution and adsorbed onto a capacitor which is typically made ofcarbon. The carbon capacitors, or capacitors, eventually fill with ions.When this occurs, the polarity of the double layer capacitor is switchedand the ions are ejected from the surface of the carbon into the streamand carried out of the device.

Unfortunately, the timing and space constraints of existing devices donot allow for a clean separation between the cleaned stream and thefollowing concentrated stream. Because these two streams partially mixtogether, the purification ability of the device is limited.

Current capacitive deionization devices have significant limitations forperformance due to the design constraints employed. In all cases, thedevices are difficult to assemble, suffer from the effect of large deadvolume spaces within the devices, and other performance limiting issueswhich will be described in detail below.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,432 to Andelman, 1993 Mar. 9, had a spirallywound electric double layer capacitor with no charge barrier and a largeinternally exit tube that allowed for mixing of the cleaned and dirtystreams. The lack of the charge barrier allows discharged ions tore-adsorb onto the opposing capacitor and the large exit tube volumeallows for mixing of the cleaned and dirty process streams. Also, thespirally wound design causes a large linear path for the water, whichincreases the residence time in the device and increases the difficultyof separating the clean from dirty process streams. The same issues areobserved in the following spirally wound patents from Andelman.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,115 to Andelman, 1993 Mar. 23U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,768 to Andelman, 1995 May 16U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,597 to Andelman, 1997 Apr. 15U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,437 to Andelman, 1998 May 5U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,891 to Andelman, 1998 Jul. 14

Another type of capacitive deionization device is the use of a flatplate design in which electric double layer capacitor pairs are stackedone on top of the other, creating a sandwich of one or more pairs. Theflat plates can be circular as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,068 to Andelman,1993 Apr. 6 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,540 to Andelman, 1994 Nov. 1. Theflat plates can also be square or rectangular as in:

U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,858 to Andelman, 1995 Jun. 20U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,611 to Andelman, 1996 Jun. 23U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,937 to Farmer, 1999 Sep. 21U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,532 B1 to Tran et al., 2001 Oct. 30U.S. Pat. No. 6,33b6,187 B1 to Tran et al., 2002 Feb. 12U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,409 B1 to Andelman, 2002 Jul. 2U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,505 B1 to Andelman, 2003 Sep. 30U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,809 A1 to Tran et al., 2002 Jul. 4U.S. Pat. No. 7,368,191 B2 to Andelman et al., 2003 Sep. 30

In either case, both designs suffer from a large dead volume of spacewithin the device where streams can be mixed during the change betweenpurification and purging cycles. This limitation is discussed byAndelman in the attached publication presented to the InternationalWorkshop on Marine Pollution on Dec. 1-3, 2003 on page 11.

Because of the rigid casings of both the spiral and flat plate designs,it is difficult to adjust the performance parameters of the device. Forexample, it would be very difficult to add or subtract capacitor pairsfrom the flat plate design without changing the dimensions of thecasing.

The common flat plate design also suffers from the inability to controlthe amperage draw of the capacitor thereby reducing the time window inwhich to separate clean from dirty streams.

These design issues prevent the current capacitive deionization devicesfrom being operated in series allowing the water to pass from one to thenext until an extremely clean stream emerges from the last cell. Storagetanks must be placed in between stages.

The existing capacitive deionization designs also suffer fromprecipitation of low solubility ions and must be periodically flushedwith chemicals to remove the fouling. This is especially true with theflat plate design.

The existing designs also utilize a porous current collector which isdifficult to assemble and imparts additional electrical resistance tothe system.

The spirally wound design is difficult to assemble and has a largeoperating pressure drop through the device due to the tortuous path theliquid must follow. The capacitor pair must be continuously wrappedaround the large perforated core without tears or gaps that the watercould pass through unprocessed.

The flat plate design layers must be stacked individually until thedesired height is reached. The alignment is critical at each end and inthe center where the processed liquid exits. The compression under whichthe stack is compressed is difficult to control.

All cited capacitive deionization devices specify to operate at lessthan 1.5V. This reduced operating voltage lowers the potential capacityof the device by upwards of 30%.

Because of the design limitations, it is difficult to control the outputconcentration of the device which is the primary purpose of anydeionizing system.

The amount of ions that can be adsorbed onto the surface of the carbonis exactly equal to the electrical capacitance of the capacitor in use.The current design of capacitors has a limited capacity due to thedesign and therefore limits the amount of ions that can be adsorbed in agiven cycle and speed in which the ions are removed from solution.

Existing capacitive deionization devices have a circumference to lengthratio of approximately 2.5. The radial design generally has a ratiocloser to 0.25:1. This increased residence time allows for difficultions to be removed by removing the easier ions in the first part of thedevice, leaving the harder to remove ions available only in theelectromagnetic field.

Existing designs rely on a series of connections between poorconductivity materials and the power supply.

These and other advantages of one or more aspects will become apparentfrom a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanyingdrawings.

SUMMARY

This invention relates to a concentric layer electric double layercapacitor device, system design, and method of use. The concentric layerdevice solves many of the construction and performance issues observedwith the existing prior art and provides advantages that allow thedevice to be used to purify very concentrated process streams such asbut not limited to sea water and industrial waste streams.

DRAWINGS Figures

FIG. 1: Isometric view of a concentric layer electric double layercapacitor cylinder 11.

FIG. 2: Cross section of basic concentric layer EDLC cylinder 11.

FIG. 3: Cross section of multiple pair concentric layer EDLC cylinder11.

FIG. 4: Series connection of multiple concentric layer EDLC cylinders11, energy recovery modules 31, and power supplies 32.

FIG. 5: Amperage profile of standard capacitive deionization device vs.concentric layer EDLC cylinder 11.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   11 Concentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder-   12 Inner support tube-   14 a Inside current collector-   14 b Outside current collector-   14 c Within device current collector-   16 Capacitor-   18 Ion specific membrane-   18 a Ion specific membrane (anionic)-   18 b Ion specific membrane (cationic)-   20 Dielectric spacer-   22 O-ring-   24 Outer casing/seal-   26 a Electrical lead-   26 b Electrical lead-   27 Electrical lead post-   28 a Inlet liquid chamber-   28 b Outlet liquid chamber-   30 a Inlet liquid feed tube-   30 b Outlet liquid feed tube-   31 Energy recovery module (ERM)-   32 Power supply-   33 Power supply leg 1-   33 b Power supply leg 2-   35 3 way valve

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 First Embodiment

A basic concentric layer electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) cylinder11, EDLC cylinder 11, or cylinder 11 consists of two or more tubularcarbon electrodes or capacitors 16, one inserted inside of the otherforming a concentric pair of capacitors 16. One pair of capacitors 16forms an electric double layer capacitor 16 pair.

In the most basic design as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an inner mostcapacitor 16 is wrapped around a current collector 14 a, which could behollow metallic tube (such as hastalloy, titanium, corrosion resistancesteel, etc) or a non-metallic hollow tube 12 with a metallic coating,sleeve, or thin current collector 14 a. Around this inner capacitor 16could be an ionic membrane 18 a or an ionic coating integrated onto asurface of capacitor 16. Next, a dielectric spacer, insulator, or spacer20 would surround a capacitor 16 or membrane 18 which would allow for aliquid layer to flow through cylinder 11 as with standard capacitivedeionization devices. Around this layer would be another ion selectivemembrane 18 b, another capacitor 16, and then another current collector14 b.

Around perimeter of each end of hollow support tube 12 is an o-ring 22to seal ends of cylinder 11. A sealing layer 24 wraps around cylinder11, extending out to o-rings 22 which will completely seal cylinder 11and provide means to compress layers within cylinder 11 securely againstinner support tube 12.

Process liquid connections 30 a and 30 b to cylinder 11 will mount oninside of inner support tube 12 and allow for liquid access to inlet 28a and outlet chambers 28 b. Electrical connections 26 a and 26 b tocylinder 11 are also made through inner surface of inner mounting tube12.

FIG. 3 shows a concentric layer EDLC with a plurality of EDLC pairs. Thestructure of a multiple pair concentric layer EDLC is same as describedin FIG. 2 except that an internal current collector 14 c is placed ontosecond capacitor 16. On top of current collector 14 c is placed anothercapacitor 16, another membrane 18, another dielectric spacer 20, anothermembrane 18, and then another capacitor 16. This sequence can berepeated until the desired number of pairs of capacitors 16 b isinstalled onto inner mounting tube 12.

FIG. 4 shows multiple cylinders 11 connected in series for liquidprocessing. Outlet 30 b of first cylinder 11 is immediately connected toinlet 30 a of second cylinder 11, and so on. Each cylinder 11 isconnected to an energy recovery module 31. Module 31 is used to captureenergy released during the rejection of the stored ions in cylinder 11for reuse on another cycle, another cylinder, or combination thereof.

Operation

When cylinder 11 is operating as a mega-capacitor, it is simplyconnected to the system of interest and used as an energy storage devicesuch as an automobile. A typical commercially available largeultra-capacitor from Maxwell Technologies is 3,000 farads. A typicalconcentric EDLC cylinder 11 that is 12 inches long and 8 inches indiameter with 100 capacitor 16 pairs has an electrical capacitance ofapproximately 100,000 farads when operated at approximately 2 volts, or33 times greater than the largest commercially availablesuper-capacitor.

When cylinder 11 is operating as capacitive deionization device, liquidto be processed such as water enters cylinder 11 through inlet tube 30 ainto inlet chamber 28 a. The liquid passes axially through spacer (s)20, into outlet chamber 28 b and then out of cylinder 11 through tube 30b.

Electrical leads 26 a and 26 b are connected to a direct current powersupply (DC) 32. The simplest cylinder design with one EDLC pair has onecapacitor 16 connected to one leg 33 of power supply 32 and capacitor 16connected to leg 33 b. Power supply 32 is turned on and each capacitor16 is charged to the voltage set on power supply 32. In most cases,power supply 32 would be set to 2.2 volts when processing aqueousliquids.

If capacitor 16 nearest inner support tube 12 is charged positive itwill attract negatively charged ions (anions). If membrane 18 a proximalto this capacitor 16 is anionic, it will allow anions from the liquid inspacer 20 to pass through and adsorb onto capacitor 16. This adsorptionwill continue until the amount of ionic charge adsorbed onto capacitor16 equals the charge capacity of capacitor 16. Conversely, capacitor 16nearest outer casing 24 will be charged negative and attract positivelycharged ions (cations). If membrane 18 b proximal to this capacitor 16is cationic, it will allow cations to pass through until capacitor 16 isfull.

Once capacitors 16 have adsorbed the prescribed amount of ions (partialor full adsorption), the polarity of power supply 32 is switched.Capacitor 16 that was charged positive is now switched to negative andother capacitor 16 is switched to positive. The ions that were adsorbedonto the surface are now repelled towards oppositely charged capacitor16. Since opposite ion specific membranes are placed in front of eachcapacitor 16, the repelled ions can not pass through opposite membrane18 and are prevented from adsorbing onto other capacitor 16. Theserejected ions are held within spacer 20 and can be expelled fromcylinder 11.

After all the ions have been dislodged from capacitors 16 and cylinder11, the adsorption and rejection process can be repeated. If a 3 wayvalve is placed on outlet tube 30 b, the deionized liquid can bediverted away from the liquid containing the rejected ions. Cylinder 11power supply will switch the polarity back and forth, removing ions fromsolution and depositing the ions back into solution, creating adeionized portion and a portion containing the removed ions.

As mentioned previously, cylinder 11 is an energy storage device. Whenfunctioning as a capacitive deionization device and fully charged, a setamount of energy is being stored. When the polarity is switched, thevoltage of one of capacitor 16 switches from, for example, +2.2 volts to−2.2 volts. The energy released when capacitor 16 voltage is changedfrom +2.2 volts to zero volts can be stored in energy storage or used toprovide part of the energy for next cycle of cylinder 11. Management ofthis power will lower the energy consumption of cylinder by upwards of50%. Energy recovery modules or ERM 31 as shown FIG. 4 are connected tocylinders 11 to support the energy management. Each ERM 31 can provideenergy storage capacity to one or more cylinder 11.

Typical component sizes and materials of construction are as follows.The inner support tube 12 can be made of schedule 40 ABS pipe, PVC, PPE,PP, or the polymers with semi-rigid structure. The current collector 14a, 14 b, or 14 c is typically made of <0.005″ commercial grade titanium.The carbon capacitor 16 is typically made of activated carbon, >0.005″thick, with surface area >2,000 m3/gm. The membranes 18 a (anionic) and18 b (cationic) are commercially available from companies such asAmeridia. The spacer 20 can be made of many insulating materials such ashemp, nylon cloth, Tenyl, polypropylene, or other non-conductivematerials that wet-out in water with open volume <75% andthickness >0.005″. The o-rings 22 sealing each end can be made fromBuna-n rubber, silicone, PTFE, or other flexible sealing materials.

With a 12 inch long, 8 inch diameter, single pair concentric EDLC, inlet28 a and outlet 28 b chambers will be no bigger than 10 cm³ or 10 ml. Acylinder of this configuration would allow for flow of approximately1,000 ml/min. This translates into a residence time or dead volume ofless than 1 second. As additional pairs are added to cylinder 11 thedead volume will rise less than proportional, further reducing theresidence time in chambers 28 a and 28 b. By reducing the residence timein outlet chamber 28 a to less than 1 second, there is a cleardelineation between cleaned and purged liquid streams when the polarityis switched.

Using the same 12 inch long and 8 inch diameter cylinder mentionedabove, the residence time of the open space contained in spacer 20 isless than 2 seconds. The velocity of the liquid within spacer 20 has aReynold's number greater than 2,000 thereby creating a great deal ofturbulence which will facilitate the removal of ions after being ejectedfrom capacitors 16 during the discharge cycle.

The combination of these two features significant reduces the effect ofthe problem of the clean stream being mixed with stream containing therejected ions.

A charging concentric electric double layer capacitor cylinder generatesa magnetic field adding inductance to the circuit. This inductance slowsdown the standard charging rate of capacitor 16, artificially increasingthe RC time constant and greatly increasing the time to charge capacitor16. For a given size capacitor 16, the time to charge will be increasedby a factor of 10, from 30 seconds to >4 minutes. The removal rate ofions during this extended cycle changes slowly, allowing for precisecontrol of the liquid flow, further improving the ability to isolateclean streams from rejected.

The pressure drop across a standard 8 inch diameter by 12 inch cylinderwith one EDLC pair of capacitors 16 and 1 liter per minute is less than10 psi with a residence time of less than 5 seconds. This allows forcylinders to be placed in series to provide high levels of purification,including sea water and fracture water from oil and gas wells. Byplacing cylinders in series, the ratio of circumference to length can beadjusted without changing cylinder 16 itself. This flexibility allowsfor cylinders to be used in various combinations to process differentstreams with varying purification goals.

Current collectors 14 a and 14 b, or integrated capacitor 16/currentcollectors 14, are very close to inside and outside of the cylinder 11.This allows for simple and effective electrical connection to outsidepower source. A non-porous current collector is employed, therebyreducing the electrical resistance such as described above. Whenemploying multiple EDLC pairs within cylinder 11, non porous collectors14 c are used to facilitate assembly and reduce electrical resistance.

FIG. 5 shows the charging speed of a standard capacitive deionizationdevice versus the concentric layer electric double layer capacitorcylinder 11. Due to the concentric layer geometry, the current draw,charging speed, and molar flux during deionization are modulated andmuch more stable. The stable current draw allows for improved control ofpurification, facilitating the ability to separate clean from dirtyprocess streams.

Additional Embodiments

Winding tape or fiberglass-resin can be substituted as outer casing 24.

Inner support tube 12 can be 12 inches long and 6 inches in diameter andthe axially length of the concentric layers 6 inches. 1-10 capacitor 16pairs can be installed along with the respective number of membranes 18,current collectors 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and spacers 20.

The shape of inner support tube 12 could be oblong which could impartbeneficial properties to the magnetic field.

The current collector 14 a or 14 b can be integrated with the capacitor16 by plating carbon onto the current collector 14 a, 14 b orimpregnating a mesh current collector 14 a with a soft capacitor 16.

The capacitor 16 can be integrated with the membrane 16 by coating aliquid version of the membrane 16 onto the capacitor 14.

The current collector 14 a, 14 b, the capacitor 16, and the membrane 18can be integrated together to form a monolithic structure.

Membranes 18 may be eliminated from the design when cylinder 11 is usedas a mega-capacitor.

The thickness of the current collector 14 a and 14 b, the capacitor 16,and spacer 20 can be adjusted depending on the application and can alsobe varied within the same cylinder 11 for specific performance changes.

A protective rubber layer is placed around current collector 14. Anotherlayer can be wound around cylinder 11, sealing the system and applyingthe appropriate pressure. Or the assembly can be placed into acompressible tube with a slot, around which clamps can compress theouter tube and its contents. Outer casing 24 could also be made from aconductive material such as a screen and allow for integration of thecasing, current collector, capacitor 16, and membrane.

Another embodiment is the use of membranes 18 a and 18 b of the samepolarity and cycle the polarity of the cylinder 11 as usual. This willallow for the removal of either cations or anions only. Charge balancewill be maintained through generation of H+ and OH− by hydrolysis. Onepertinent example of this is the cleaning of contaminated sulfuric acid.The cylinder 11 would be built with anion membranes 18 a only. Thesulfate ions will be removed. Then both capacitors 16 can be positivelycharged and the sulfate ions ejected. The first stream will contain theunwanted cations while the second stream will contain the sulfuric acid.This can also be done with cationic membranes 18 b for the isolation ofcations.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, several objects and advantages of our invention are:

-   -   a) The concentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder        11 design allows for a significantly reduced and exit dead        volume/residence time within the device which reduces the effect        of the mixing of clean and dirty water during cycle changes.        This allows for very high TDS streams to be cleaned with a clear        delineation between the clean and dirty streams.    -   b) The concentric layer design allows for easy adjustment of        residence time of ions within the purification cell versus        convention cell by adjusting the circumference to length ratio.    -   c) The concentric layer design allows for a wider operating        window due to the modulated flow of current to the capacitor        pairs thereby allowing for a more consistent exit concentration        which is due to the magnetic field created with a circular        capacitor.    -   d) Because of the above listed advantages, concentric layer        devices can be arranged in series with water flowing from one to        another which allows for larger degree of purification and        eliminates the need for between cylinder 11 accumulation. This        is much easier than constructing large, long devices and allows        for system customization for each application.    -   e) The concentric layer design allows for reduced electrical        resistance due to the ability to wrap each layer under tension.    -   f) The concentric layer design utilizes a non-porous current        collector such as but not limited to stainless steel, titanium,        platinum, gold plated steel, platinum plated titanium, plated        plastic, etc.    -   g) The concentric layer format is easier to assemble and        tolerant of material dimensional variability.    -   h) The number of radial concentric layer pairs of capacitors can        be adjusted without changing the outer casing.    -   i) The concentric layer design allows for very large, economical        mega-capacitors to be built for use in automobiles and other        high energy applications.    -   j) One version of the concentric layer design incorporates the        same-polarity membranes or coatings so as to selectively remove        specific anions or cations such as the sulfate portion of        sulfuric acid.    -   k) Re-precipitation of the rejected ions is eliminated by the        short residence time and the magnetic field created by the        concentric electric double layer capacitor which allows for the        removal of difficult species with low solubility limits such as        but not limited to barium, strontium, sulfates, and silicates.    -   l) The force under which the materials are compressed can be        adjusted simply by adjusting the torque under which the outer        casing is installed.    -   m) Operation of cylinders 11 at upwards of 2.2 volts or greater        increasing the performance of the system without any detrimental        effect on the integrity or performance of the cylinder 11.    -   n) Controlling of overall system through monitoring of cylinder        11 voltage, amperage draw, and instantaneous conductivity with        specially designed algorithms.    -   o) The use of the system to remove unwanted ions from blood in        place of traditional dialysis.    -   p) The use of the system to soften residential or commercial        water without the use of chemicals for system fouling or salt.    -   q) A water feed bag made from solar cell material that can be        hung such as to provide a slightly pressurized feed stream to a        radial deionization system powered entirely by the solar bag        cells.    -   r) Add booster capacitors in series or in parallel in order to        increase capacitance of the concentric layer cylinder 11.    -   s) Use capacitor capacitors with dopants to boost the        capacitance.    -   t) The capacitor pairs can be wired in parallel or series.    -   u) Because of the system design, the cylinder 11 systems require        no chemicals for maintenance and cleaning.    -   v) A low frequency AC power supply can be employed to simulate        the polarity switching which consumes less power and is easier        to operate and control.    -   w) By connecting an energy recovery module to the RDI system,        the energy used to remove ions from solution can be saved and        used to power other system components such as pump, system        controls, and boost future cycles of the cylinders 11.    -   x) If an ionic membrane is used in between the capacitor 16 and        spacer 20, it can be coated onto the surface of the carbon        capacitor forming a monolithic capacitor/membrane via spray,        doctor balding, etc    -   y) The contact resistance between the current collector and        capacitor can be reduced by electroplating the collector prior        to assembly with a highly conductive and corrosion resistant        metal such as by not limited to platinum, gold, silver, and        electro-less nickel.    -   z) A capacitor can be built up onto a current collector by        co-plating carbon particles, ion selective beads, and/or metal        onto the collector.    -   aa) Anionic or cationic nano-capacitors can be made by        encapsulating highly salty conductive solution inside a        polymeric bubble made up of either anionic or cationic selective        materials. When the nano-capacitors are incorporated into the        capacitor and inserted into an operating cylinder 11, the        positive or negative ions will be ejected from the bubble        creating a super nano capacitor.    -   bb) Employ membranes of the same polarity and cycle the polarity        of the device as usual. This will allow for the removal of        either cations or anions only.    -   cc) Use a layer of non-conductive particles to create the        dielectric spacer.    -   dd) A completely integrated mesh current collector with carbon        capacitor embedded into the mesh and an ion selective membrane        polymer integrated onto the mesh carbon, forming a monolithic        current collector, capacitor, membrane.    -   ee) Incorporate ion exchange beads or particles into the        capacitor in order to increase the capacitance of the capacitor        material.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Thus the reader will see that at least one embodiment of the concentriclayer electric double layer capacitor cylinder 11 provides a moreeffective and economical device for use as an energy storage and/ordeionization device. The energy storage device can provide extremelylarge devices for use in electric cars and other high energy demandsituations. The deionization cylinder 11 allows for the deionizing ofhigh salinity process streams such as sea water using less energy, nochemicals, and more reliable technology than convention reverse osmosissystems. This will allow for further use of sea water as a source ofdrinking water.

A low energy, effective liquid deionizer will also allow for small solarpower systems, facilitating the decentralization of world water supply.

There are numerous industrial water softening and other deionzingapplications which have no effective solutions. For example, fracturewater produced by oil and gas wells must be blended off in municipalwater systems because the salinity level and low solubility ofparticular components prevents processing by standard methods such asreverse osmosis. One or more embodiments will allow for this water to becleaned and reused, saving precious water. It will also allow for lesschemicals to be used in the fracture process, reducing the effect ofthis gas extraction process on local water supplies.

While the above description contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limitations on the scope, but rather as anexemplification of one (or several) embodiment (s) thereof. Many othervariations are possible. For example, the inner support tube could besolid and the liquids enter from either end, electrical and hydraulicconnects could be made through the outside or ends of the cylinder 11.

Additional Configurations

Accordingly, the scope should be determined not by the embodimentsillustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

1. A concentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder for usein deionizing aqueous streams, comprising: a. a plurality ofconcentrically opposed capacitor pairs of predetermined diameter andlength, b. a dielectric spacer interposed between one of said capacitorsin pairs and its adjacent capacitor with similar predetermined lengthand position, c. a means of containing said capacitors and spacers, d. ameans of introducing an electrical charge to said capacitor pairs, ande. a means of introducing and removing a liquid to said dielectricspacer whereby said liquid can be deionized by said cylinder.
 2. Theelectrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein saidcapacitor pairs are made of activated carbon, carbon black, andpolytetrafluoroethylene.
 3. The electrical double layer capacitorcylinder of claim 1 wherein one ion specific membrane is interposedbetween said capacitor and said dielectric spacer.
 4. The electricaldouble layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein the capacitor and ionspecific membrane are integrated.
 5. The electrical double layercapacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein said capacitor and said means ofintroducing electrical charge are integrated.
 6. The electrical doublelayer capacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein said capacitor, said meansof introducing electrical charge, and said ion specific membrane areintegrated.
 7. The electrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1wherein said means of introducing electrical charge is the casing of thecylinder.
 8. The electrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1wherein means of introducing an electrical charge to said capacitorpairs is comprised of titanium sheet.
 9. The electrical double layercapacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein the means of containing saidcapacitors and spacers is an inner support tube and outer casing orseal.
 10. The electrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1wherein said capacitor pairs are less than 0.050″ thick.
 11. Theelectrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 1 wherein saidcapacitor pairs are comprised of agents that impart larger capacitanceper unit volume than activated carbon.
 12. A method for deionizing watercontaining ionic components comprising: a. A concentric layer electricdouble layer capacitor cylinder b. A power supply c. And a means forcontrolling system
 13. A capacitive deionization system comprising: a. Aconcentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder b. A powersupply c. And a means for controlling system d. Fluid for processing 14.A concentric layer electric double layer capacitor cylinder for storingelectrical energy, comprising: a. a plurality of concentrically opposedcapacitor pairs, b. a dielectric spacer interposed between one of saidcapacitor in pairs and its adjacent capacitor, c. a means of containingsaid capacitors and spacers whereby said cylinder can store electricalenergy, and d. a means of introducing electrical charge to saidcapacitor pairs.
 15. The electrical double layer capacitor of claim 14wherein said capacitor pairs are made of activated carbon, carbon black,and polytetrafluoroethylene.
 16. The electrical double layer capacitorcylinder of claim 14 wherein means of introducing an electrical chargeto said capacitor pairs is comprised of titanium sheet.
 17. Theelectrical double layer capacitor cylinder of claim 14 wherein the meansof containing said capacitors and spacers is an inner support tube andouter casing or seal.
 18. The electrical double layer capacitor cylinderof claim 14 wherein said capacitor pairs are less than 0.050″ thick. 19.A method for storing energy comprising: a. A concentric layer electricdouble layer capacitor cylinder b. a means for controlling system